Jovan Belcher stands on the Chiefs' sideline during an NFL game in Orchard Park, N.Y. / Bill Wippert, Associated Press

by Rachel George, USA TODAY Sports

by Rachel George, USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher was legally drunk when he killed Kasandra Perkins, his girlfriend, and committed suicide on the morning of Dec. 1, according to autopsy results released by the Jackson County medical examiner on Monday.

The autopsy report listed an ethanol reading of 170 mg/dL in Belcher's blood. A reading of 80 mg/dL would indicate a blood alcohol content of .08, the legal limit for driving in Missouri, meaning Belcher's reading was .17.

"Just taking it at face value, it's .17 and .17 is twice as much and therefore he was drunk and probably drunk at the time of his death," said Dr. Harry Milman, a consulting toxicologist in Maryland. "If he died, there's no metabolism of the alcohol. Whatever was in his blood, we have to assume it stayed in his blood."

Perkins, 22, had almost no alcohol in her system, according to the report, and neither tested positive for illegal drugs.

Perkins was shot nine times in the neck, chest, abdomen, hip, back, leg and hand, according to the report. Only one gunshot wound to her hand showed "evidence of close range fire." The gunshot wounds punctured Perkins' lung, liver, spleen and kidney.

The medical examiner ruled Belcher's death a suicide and Perkins' death a homicide as Kansas City police and the Jackson County prosecutor's office had done previously.

Belcher, 25, fatally shot Perkins with a .40-caliber handgun at the couple's Crysler Avenue home in Kansas City on Dec. 1 before traveling to the Chiefs' practice facility and committing suicide in front of general manager Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel.

Pioli and Crennel were fired after the Chiefs finished 2-14 this season.

The results of the police investigation, which were made public on Dec. 18, revealed trouble in Belcher and Perkins' relationship. Belcher had been in a relationship with another woman, Britney Glass, since March.

He spent the last night of his life partying with Glass in the Power and Light District in downtown Kansas City, according to the previously released police report.

KCPD responded to a 911 call around 3 a.m. CT of a suspicious person sitting in a vehicle outside of Glass' apartment building. They found Belcher asleep inside his Bentley with the engine running.

Belcher told officers he was waiting for his girlfriend, and they told him to call his girlfriend and go inside rather than drive home and risk being arrested for drunken driving.

On dashboard video released last month, officers are heard confirming with Belcher that he would not be driving.

"You just need to go upstairs, dude," one officer said. "We're trying to cut you a break here."

When news of the first 911 call was reported by USA TODAY Sports last month, Kansas City police spokesman Darin Snapp said, "The officers said he may have been drinking early in the evening, but he did not appear to be intoxicated."

According to the police report released following his death, Belcher entered the building and knocked on the door of Brittni Dunivan and Shelby Zoellers. The two women came forward after hearing of Belcher's death.

He explained that he was waiting for a friend who wasn't answering her phone, and they offered to let him wait for her in their apartment.

The women told police that Belcher "appeared to be intoxicated." They said he was "laughing, joking and thanking" them for letting him wait there.

After the women took him to a gas station to get Gatorade, he went to sleep in their apartment around 4:30 a.m. and was there until around 6:45 a.m.

Belcher returned home and fought with Perkins. Cheryl Shepherd, Belcher's mother, called 911 around 7:50 a.m. to report that her son had shot Perkins.

Belcher and Perkins' parents have both filed legal action to get custody of the couple's now 4-month-old daughter, Zoey. A Missouri court will appoint a lawyer to protect the infant's interests.